Young People Need to See What It's Like

"On October 18, 2000, I was laid off from the post office, and I came here to the work center, got my typing certificate, honed my computer skills, and was hired at Paradise Valley Hospital April 4, and I quit on May 5. I have gone to several interviews, but I haven't found a job yet. I took an interview here with one employer, and they told me that I needed my DMV printout, a Social Security card, and any medical certificates I had. I took medical terminology, so I do have that background there. I went to San Diego, interviewed with her again, turned in all my paperwork, and she said she would call me. I've called her since then, left messages, and got no response. They were due here this morning for another recruitment, and I was going to ask her why they haven't returned my calls. I want to find out where I stand there. I'm pretty sure that the reason I'm having a hard time finding a job is my age, but they don't know my personality. I have a lot of energy, and I'm an excellent worker."

"I've come to the career center here and learned word processing, Word 2000, MS Excel, and I just got a certificate that verifies I can type 74 words per minute with only two errors. But the problem I'm finding with trying to get a job here is that you have to be bilingual, and the pay is only minimum wage. I'm not bilingual yet, but I'm working on it!"

For Snyder, the hardest job of her life seems to be her current job search. "I go through the newspapers first, because I can get through those real fast. I come here every morning and get on the Internet, so I can go through all the jobs. There are several websites where you can go directly to the companies and apply and do online résumés or fax them from the center. That usually takes about three hours. Something should turn up sooner or later. I don't know how much longer I can go on like this.

"I'm trying to move on with my life. If it's a situation that you cannot change, and the job is too much, and you're not getting the cooperation that you need to improve the job performance, then there's no sense of staying at a company if they cannot change. Young people need to find out what it's like. They need more responsibility and more discipline. They need to find out just how tough it really is being unemployed. A lot of them are still living at home with their mothers -- most of the girls at my last job were. Their families were taking care of their children for them, and they just wanted to talk, talk, talk about their problems all day long instead of concentrating and focusing on the job. Young people are very smart nowadays, but they think more of their personal lives than the responsibilities of their job. As long as they have the support at home, they're not going to concentrate on their job. They don't have to worry about money coming in, so that's why they come in late and just do what they want to do."

Comments

Well, I can see some of your frustration, however, I don't think you should've quit. Obviously this wasn't an ideal situation, but you should've stuck with it until something better came along. It's easier to get work when you have work and harder when you are unemployed. Also, as far as the people you were managing, they probably had a mimimum wage mentality that this job doesn't pay well and they really don't care much. Your supervisor may have realised that although the girls attitudes were not great, he wasn't going to get much better if any better for the same wages. People chat too much on their cell phones. Always chatting while driving, while working and even while in the restroom. As far as the post office's split shift, that does seem like a pain. And with gas being so expensive, I understand your need to stay local.